


The One Where Bruce Gets a Cat

by knobblyfruit



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, could maybe be slash if you're wearing your goggles, hulk likes kitties, science bros being bros, tony is a softie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 12:31:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11231025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knobblyfruit/pseuds/knobblyfruit
Summary: The Hulk finds a kitten. Bruce suffers the consequences.(Luckily, he doesn't really mind.)





	The One Where Bruce Gets a Cat

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this four years ago for a friend as a comment fic at her LiveJournal. I just rediscovered it and I still like it so I'm posting it here. :D

The first thing Bruce hears when he walks into Tony's lab is a pathetic mewling sound. He stops with a frown.

"Does Dummy meow?" he asks Tony, who jerks upright from where he was bent over a work table.

"Jesus Christ, Bruce. Stop taking lessons from Natasha immediately." He pauses. "Wait, what?"

Bruce knew it was a silly question, but he'd just woken up from a post-Hulk-out nap and one time Clint had compared Dummy to the snail on Spongebob Squarepants and... well, Bruce is a little disoriented at the moment.

But Tony knows this and just waves his hands in the air to stop any response Bruce might have made. "No, no, no. Being a cat is not in Dummy's programming, I can assure you." He gets up from his chair abruptly and heads toward the other side of the lab. Before Bruce can make the decision to follow, he reappears.

He's holding a kitten.

Bruce's eyes widen as Tony hands it to him. It's adorable, of course. Calico, Bruce thinks, with blotches of white between mixtures of orange, black, and brown. Bright blue eyes.

"She's yours. Well, Hulk's. Please get her out of my lab."

But Bruce just blinks at him while the kitten attempts to crawl up his shoulder. "What?" is the most intelligent thing Bruce can come up with.

"The Hulk found her during the mission. Refused to give her up. Almost refused to turn back into you because he was afraid we wouldn't keep her. I had to cross my heart and hope to die a thousand times, I swear."

It annoys Bruce sometimes that he can't remember much more than brief flashes of being the Hulk. He certainly doesn't remember finding a kitten. He grimaces as the kitten digs her claws into his skin as he tries to peel her away from his shoulder. He holds her out at arm's length. She swats half-heartedly at him and mewls, as if saying she's not afraid of him. Then again, she's apparently seen the Hulk, so she probably knows.

Bruce is still just a little confused. "He held her and everything?" 

"Yep. She even climbed on top of his head and slept in his hair for awhile. He just sat there, completely content."

"Huh." He brings the kitten back to his chest, running his hand down the soft fur of her back. The closest thing he'd ever had to a pet was that dog in Brazil. He was a stray, too. He'd never had the honor of meeting the Hulk, though. It seemed his angry alter ego would never stop surprising him. It was just hard to imagine him as gentle.

Tony just smiles at him, and Bruce knows that he knows what he's thinking. Because Tony was always telling him he didn't give the Hulk enough credit. He doesn't always agree, but this time he might just be right. Then Tony turns around and goes back to his work table. "I am completely willing to let you keep her, despite the terribly strict no pet policy in place here at the tower. I'm not going to be the one to break Hulk's heart." He sits down and leans back in the chair, pointing at Bruce and the kitten. "Just keep her out of the labs. I can't have cats in the lab, Bruce. I just can't have it! Forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes...mass hysteria!"

Bruce finds himself smiling, even as the kitten nibbles on his thumb. "Cats and dogs living together?"

"We're not getting a dog! And if you run into Barton, tell him the answer is still, 'no, you can't have a ferret.'"

Now Bruce is laughing because his life is ridiculous and he really doesn't know how in the world he managed to end up here. But he likes it.

Bruce swears there's a sparkle in Tony's eye as he shoos him out of his lab. "Now go. Pepper was more than happy to do some shopping for the runt so goddess only knows what fresh hell has exploded upstairs. Should at least be some food and water dishes by now... and food."

Bruce lets his laughter settle into a serene smile. "Thanks, Tony."

Tony merely waves him off, but as Bruce leaves the lab, he shouts after him, "By the way, I named her Quark! You're welcome!"


End file.
